Ariz. shooter to be sentenced; Giffords to attend

8:04 AM,
Nov. 8, 2012

Today, Jared Loughner, now 24, will be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tucson. Under terms of the plea agreement hammered out by prosecutors and defense attorneys in August, Loughner will spend the rest of his life in prison, and given his fragile mental state, most likely in a federal prison psychiatric ward.

Written by

Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Shortly after 10 a.m. on Jan. 8, 2011, a psychotic young man named Jared Loughner stormed a supermarket parking lot north of Tucson where a member of Congress was holding a meet-and-greet, pulled out a 9mm Glock 19 pistol and fired indiscriminately.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head. She survived but eventually resigned her seat because of her injuries.

In the chaotic minutes before Loughner was wrestled to the ground by bystanders, he squeezed off 31 more shots. ...